2001 Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200
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1.000 mi / 1.609 km
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 1 of 13 in the 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season
| |||
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| Date | March 18, 2001 | ||
| Official name | Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 | ||
| Location | Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.000 mi / 1.609 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 200.000 mi / 321.869 km | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |  Greg Ray (Team Menard) | ||
| Time | 20.2631 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Billy Boat (Curb-Agajanian-Beck Motorsports) | ||
| Time | 21.3309 (on lap 93 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Sam Hornish Jr. (Panther Racing) | ||
| Second |  Eliseo Salazar (A. J. Foyt Racing) | ||
| Third | Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing) | ||
The 2001 Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 was an Indy Racing Northern Light Series motor race held on March 18, 2001, in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway. It was the first round of the 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series. Panther Racing driver Sam Hornish Jr. won the 200-lap race. Eliseo Salazar of A. J. Foyt Racing finished second and Buddy Lazier finished third for Hemelgarn Racing.
Greg Ray won the pole position by posting the fastest lap of qualifying. Second-place qualifier Hornish Jr. quickly passed him and held the first position until Ray reclaimed the lead on lap 68. Ray made a pit stop on lap 74 and relinquished the lead to Gil de Ferran, who crashed while entering pit road three laps later. After Hélio Castroneves and Scott Sharp made their stops, Ray took the lead once again. By lap 119, Ray began experiencing engine issues, allowing Stéphan Grégoire to take the lead. Hornish Jr. moved into the first position by virtue of a quick pit stop, and after Grégoire crashed on lap 132, he led the remaining laps to earn the victory. There were five cautions and seven lead changes among six drivers during the race.
The victory was Hornish Jr.'s first of his career, and he became the youngest winner in Indy Racing Northern Light Series history (a record which was broken in 2006). After the race, Hornish Jr. held a twelve-point lead in the Drivers' Championship over Salazar. Oldsmobile also had the Manufacturers' Championship by four points over Nissan.
The Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 was the first of 13 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series.[1] It was held on March 18, 2001, in Avondale, Arizona, United States, at Phoenix International Raceway, a four-turn 1 mi (1.6 km) paved oval track with 11-degree banking in the first two turns and 9-degree banking in the last two turns, marking the fifty-sixth American open-wheel car race at the track dating back to 1964, and contested over 200 laps and 200 miles (320 km).[2]
To prepare for the race, the Indy Racing League (IRL) conducted a test, named the "Test of the West," for the series' entrants at Phoenix International Raceway on February 9–10. Both sessions began at 9:00 AM Mountain Standard Time (MST) and concluded at 5:00 PM.[3] Stéphan Grégoire was fastest of the 12 drivers who took part in the incident-free session on February 9 with a top speed of 176.808 mph (284.545 km/h).[4] Fourteen drivers participated in the session on February 10, which also went without any accidents and was led by Greg Ray with a top speed of 174.906 mph (281.484 km/h).[5]
Twenty-seven cars were entered for the race, represented by two different chassis manufacturers and two different engine manufacturers.[6] Among those who partook in the race were Team Penske drivers Gil de Ferran and Hélio Castroneves, both of whom were regulars in the rivaling CART FedEx Championship Series and used the race as a warm-up for the forthcoming Indianapolis 500.[7] Buddy Lazier, who entered the season as the defending champion of the race and the series,[8][9] aimed to win the season-opener by focusing on his late-race performance.[10] With two rookie drivers—Casey Mears and Didier André—joining Al Unser Jr. at Galles Racing, Unser Jr. predicted that the season would be "unbelievable" for him and his team.[11] Despite Sam Hornish Jr.'s poor finishes at the circuit, he hoped to win in his first race with Panther Racing.[12] Eddie Cheever believed his new Infiniti Indy 35A engine would bring him success in the season so long as it "progressed" well throughout the races.[13]
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions preceded the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first and third sessions lasted 90 minutes and the second lasted 60 minutes. For each session, the race's entrants were split into two groups who received equal track time.[14] Hornish Jr. led the first practice session on Friday morning with a time of 20.7551 seconds, besting Eliseo Salazar, Stan Wattles, Ray, and Sarah Fisher.[15] Mark Dismore and Cheever both suffered mechanical issues, while debris came off of André's car.[16] Later that day, Wattles was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 20.9074 seconds, ahead of Cheever, Lazier, Billy Boat, and Salazar.[17] Ray lapped the quickest time of the third practice session on Saturday morning at 20.3917 seconds, with de Ferran, Lazier, Grégoire, and Hornish Jr. rounding out the top-five.[18] Hornish Jr. caused a five-minute stoppage in the session after spinning on the blend line in turn two, although he did not receive any damage.[19]
"Team Menard loves to start first. This is a good group of guys working hard. New team, new manager, new engineer, a lot of new mechanics. It's a whole new group of guys. We have a great chemistry. Everybody is working together. I really need to focus on having a lot better races this year. I really make it no secret that I enjoy qualifying. I love that single speed event. But it does nothing for the championship."
Qualifying began on Saturday under sunny conditions. Each driver was required to complete two timed laps, with the fastest of the two laps determining their starting position.[14][19] Ray earned the tenth pole position of his career, and his third consecutive at Phoenix, with a time of 20.2631 seconds and was joined on the grid's front row by Hornish Jr., who was nearly one tenth of a second slower.[21][22] Jeff Ward qualified third in his first race with the new Heritage Motorsports team[23] and Grégoire occupied fourth place, the best qualifying effort of his career.[24] Positions fifth through tenth were occupied by de Ferran, Lazier, Boat, Robbie Buhl, Felipe Giaffone, and Scott Sharp.[25] Buzz Calkins experienced oversteer during his qualifying run and was the fastest driver not to qualify inside the top ten.[26] Heavy winds during the qualifying session prevented Cheever from qualifying higher than 12th,[27] while Salazar and Wattles, starting from 13th and 14th, used too much downforce for their liking. Mark Dismore qualified 15th after lifting off the accelerator pedal in turns three and four,[20] with Robby McGehee in 16th and Castroneves in 17th.[28] The final ten starting positions were claimed by Airton Daré, Tyce Carlson, Davey Hamilton, Sarah Fisher, Jeret Schroeder, Unser Jr., Shigeaki Hattori, Mears, Brandon Erwin, and André.[21][29] Boat, McGehee, and Fisher were each limited to one timed lap due to failing pre-qualifying technical inspection.[19]
Qualifying classification
Warm-up
The drivers took to the track on Sunday at 10:00 AM MST for a thirty-minute warm-up session.[14] Lazier posted the fastest lap of the session at 170.891 mph (275.022 km/h), beating Grégoire, Sharp, Hornish Jr., and Salazar. Wattles spun in the first turn eleven minutes into the session but did not receive any damage.[30]
